Just a brief warning: I am extremely tired--it hurt to put in the Visine
this
morning it was so bad--and so if I begin to border on dimentia, I am
truly sorry. On top of that, in a post Unplugged euphoria, I
tried to jump
over an obstruction in my path, and ended up on on ass with a sprained ankle.
This will be a two part
issue. The maximum number of characters AOL allows
in mail is 30,000, and I think I need a good 1,000,000 to get this all out.
So
today will be a 2-parter, and may be tomorrow's.
AND AWAY WE GO...
***************************
cworkman-at-cbis.ece.drexel.edu
(Carla Workman) writes:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Dear Amanda
& the Yog Peeps:
In reference to " YOGMAIL--Nov. 23/96--Issue #56"
****************************
Anita.Patel-at-bowne.com
(Anita Patel) writes:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
This is a resend because
I haven't seen this message posted yet.
(I never got this one... AG)
I have been looking for a dear friend whom I have
seemed to have lost
over the course of time and travel. Her name is Carla W. and if she
is reading this, could you PLEASE let
me know how you are and where I
can reach you.
(Would you per chance be referring to Carla Workman? As I recall, she's in
the
Philadelphia area. If so, she's a part of the family. AG)
ANITA, It's me!!!!! :-}
I was so happy when I saw that Anita
Patel was reading and commenting on
Yogmail!! I haven't seen her in so long! In my heart she's always been like
a sister to
me, we did have some of the greatest "George M. Fan Experiences"
together. And not once did we argue (seriously) over
who would _actually_
marry him.... we agreed I would of course! (wink!)
No.. but seriously, If I may I'd like to tell you
what a special person Anita
Patel is, and why I feel extremely blessed to have seen her post on Yogmail:
On Aug 9,1988 (the
day after my Bday! The best gift I could have gotten that
year was seeing this day!) I and a high school friend arrived early for
the
Faith Tour and decided to try ou luck spotting George entering the stadium at
the rear of the building. Quite a few people
had the same idea... Anita and
(I think her sister Heena) were among them. As any fan knows the majority of
'job' is waiting
for "so-n-so" to show up
(OK, so this note seems to have been cut off, are you going to serialize it?
MORE MORE
MORE PLEASE??? But I'm ecstatic to hear YM has done some good!
AG)
Dear Amanda
..continued (Note: Amanda I was
kicking myself ..I thought I trashed the
beginning of the letter but I SENT IT hahahaha! ~cw)
(Fear not, I err on this list
daily... AG)
Ahem...
I happened upon Anita and saw that she and several other ppl in the crowd had
brought a good
deal of GM and WHam! stuff to wave and a few things like
flowers and stuff to give GM. I only brought my camera. Anita seemed
friendly
enough and I asked her what she'd brought. She showed me a
looseleaf bound book biography she'd lovingly and professionally
researched
and composed. I looked at my camera. I believe the biography was called "A
Different Corner." After a few
pages I was lost in whirlwind of
remeniscing and discovery, I thought _I_ knew somethin' about George...
The screams and
wails seemed to come in waves as various cars, buses, etc,
descended into the garage below the stadium. Remember the entrance of
'Jaba
the Hut's lair ' in The Return of The Jedi? Where we stood in the parking
lot behind the stadium we could look down the
driveway leading into the
stadium that stopped at a door that looked like that. (Disclaimer:
Adrenaline and excitement can
warp ones perspective some. ~cw)
The afternoon sun was backing us I just hoped that George arrived soon! And
out of all the
stuff ppl were waving I thought I REALLY hope he gets a chance
to see THIS (Anita's Biography). I got a little tired of screaming
and
waving at what looked like only the cleaning ppl, stage crew and concession
stand attendants...Well I think we did see one
back up singer tho..I think.
The traffic into the stadium had come to a complete halt.
Now what'lll we do? Sweat and groan?
Yeah We probably missed him anyway !
Someone suggested we sing a few George/Wham! songs.. There we were singing
and
forgetting about the sun and about how many hours we'd been out there
..It couldn't get any better, until... Someone suggested we
go down to the
garage door and sing in to the stadium to George. Rumor was he was _already_
inside (ain't it just the way!)
So
we are singing at the top of our lungs (and doing a littel Wake Me Up
Before You Go-Go dancin' to boot!) to a big dark door with
dark windows and
expecting that we were indeed singing to ourselves..but diggin' it just the
same. Wake Me Up Before You
Go-Go....Edge of Heaven.....then someone pops
his head out of the door (just like that guy at the door of the Emerald City
in
"The Wizard of Oz", the one who wouldn't let Dorothy in,.. at first..) And
we plead with him to let us in. He says not
by the hair of his chinny,
chin, ch....aw u know. But he honors our request to atleast take something
to George. Anita's
biography! (That's right!) And said he would try and
give it to George.
A few minutes of shrieking and staring gape eyed at
each other passed and
trying to bring the butterflies in our stomachs to rest we waited. I tried
to picture George there in
his dressing room sitting and relaxing before the
gig and being brought not a rose, not a stuffed animal but a blue looseleaf
binder
with a heart and hand made cover.
(I would love to have seen his face. AG)
We walked back to the parking lot (street
level) feeling a little
disappointed that nothing was going to come of all our efforts ( but mostly
Anita's). Standing in that
little circle on that hot stadium parking lot I
still felt so lucky to be there.
We were gabbering at what would happen if
George wanted to publish Anita's
work, and maybe she would become his official 'biographer' etc...the door at
the bottom
opened and two ppl walked out. Two women, holding a cake?
One introduced as George's Publicist (I think Vicky somebody) and
the other
needed nooo introduction. It was George's hairstylist and clothing designer,
Melanie ! She walked over to Anita and
said GM loved the book and was
touched by her work. She said he wanted her to have something and gave her a
blue cap with the
Faith album symbols. Melanie confided that it was the cap
George was wearing on the plane into Philadelphia! (Yes we looked for a
trace
hair from Sweet George, no blonde or dark brown strands anywhere tho.)
The cake they were carrying was in the shape
of a Wurlitzer Juke Box (a la
the "Faith" video), and it was very well drawn. The writing in the center of
the Juke
box read something like " The Spectrum welcomes George Michael to
the City of Philadelphia." The cake looked too good
to eat, but we did. I
saved a little on the paper plate Mel gave me in a Baggie in the back of my
parent's freezer, for about
5 years. We all chatted for a bit, I asked how
to pronounce their family name and Melania said the first two letters make a
'pb'
sound (pUH-bUH),...
From then on every great experience as a GM fan had been with Anita Patel.
We went to participate in
the filming of GM's great Diet Coke commercial.
I'll let Anita tell that one, if she'd like to. My fingers are warn out!
Thanks Amanda for providing the path back to these